A Bet, a Proposal and a Party
by EmilySeaShells
Summary: The members of the BPD have a little bet going, how long will Jane and Maura's new relationship last?
1. Chapter 1

When Maura and Jane finally became an item, the entire of BPD found itself divided. The relationship, they all thought, could only go one of two ways. Either they would break it off after a few months, leaving the whole precinct to suffer the awkward encounters, or they would be married and having babies within the year. Naturally, such a contrast in opinion led to the inception of an office pool, co-ordinated and run by Frankie.

It was a dull and drizzly Tuesday when Korsak triumphantly strode into the office, and waved his hand under Frost's nose in the universal gesture for 'pay up'.

'What do you want?' Frost asked, barely glancing up from his computer screen.

'Haven't you heard?' Korsak grinned, settling down at his desk 'Jane is going to propose to Maura'.

'So soon?' Frost asked, looking up from his monitor. 'they've barely been together a year'.

'Just under ten months at my count' Korsak supplied, helping himself to a donut. 'So I do believe you owe me ten bucks'.

'No way' Frost objected, 'I'm not paying you until I see a ring on her finger'.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jane was having some trouble with the ring. So far, she had bought, and returned, three different rings. She had spent more time inside jewellery stores in the last month and inside her own home, and she still hadn't found the right one.

'I can't propose without a ring' she told herself, stomping into the ninth jewellery store that month. A well groomed attendant was at her side in a second, and Jane tried to stop herself from grinding her teeth as he began his lecture. She'd heard it all in the last month now, all about the 'four C's' and the style and setting and blah blah BLAH. She probably knew as much about engagement rings by now as the attendant did, but she still hadn't found THE ring.

Maura wasn't the type to settle, after all.

'All right' she said, silencing the attendant who had still been jabbering on, 'can you show me your diamond engagement rings please?'. She forced her face into a pleasant smile as she was led over to a glass cabinet.

She studied the contents of the case with scrutiny, trying to picture each ring on Maura's finger. Jane knew everything about Maura, she knew that the cake would have to be hazelnut, almond and chocolate ganache, with mocha buttercream; she knew that her dress would be silk charmeuse with an empire waist and a twenty foot train. Jane knew all of this; knew, but didn't understand. One thing she didn't know though, was what Maura's dream ring would look like.

Her eyes snagged on a ring as they swept the case, and for what felt like the first time in days, felt her face break into a smile.

'That one' she said, pointing and grinning 'let me see that one'.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you so much to people who have already followed/reviewed/read my little story! This is my first ever go at writing fanfiction, having been an avid reader for many years. This story won't be particularly long, as it was based off a small idea I had one day when I was doing laundry (inspiration strikes at the strangest of times!), but I hope you enjoy it regardless. Thanks again! -Emily**

* * *

Half an hour later Jane snuck into work with the small box concealed in her pocket, feeling immensely pleased with herself. This time, she was sure, she wouldn't be returning it.

'You're late Rizzoli' Cavanaugh snapped from behind her.

Jane cringed, turning to face him. 'Sorry, traffic' she lied, 'I'm here now though, did I miss anything?'

He pressed the button on the elevator before responding, 'One suspicious death called in this morning, it hasn't been ruled a homicide yet though'.

'Is Maura doing the autopsy?' Jane enquired, forcing herself to be casual as the doors slid shut.

'You're not going to ask who it is, or how they died?' Cavanaugh asked, eying her suspiciously, 'Priorities Rizzoli, the whereabouts of your girlfriend should not be one of them while you're at work'. He gave her a stern look as he stepped out of the elevator and walked towards his office, 'Get Korsak and Frost to catch you up'.

Jane cringed again as she made her way to her desk, she felt like she was seven years old again, being told off for breaking that window.

'There's the bride to be!' Korsak exclaimed as Jane entered the room.

'Shh!' Jane hissed, looking around frantically to make sure no one heard him, 'how on earth do you know?' there was a pause as Korsak shifted guiltily in his chair. 'Frankie' Jane ground out, 'I'm going to kill him'.

'Oh don't, he's excited for you is all' Korsak reasoned, 'it's not every day his big sister gets engaged'.

'Well it's not today either' Jane muttered, sitting down, 'I haven't asked her yet'.

'Ha!' Frost suddenly interrupted, looking up at Korsak, 'Told you I wasn't paying you yet'.

'Are you BETTING on me?!' Jane exclaimed, looking murderous.

* * *

Maura was in her happy place. The Queen of the Dead they called her upstairs, and she couldn't really dispute the nickname, it was very apt. The morgue was empty except for the one body on the table in front of her, a man in his late thirties who had been brought in that morning. She hummed to herself as she stripped his clothing and entered it into the log.

'What have we got?' Jane asked, swinging the door open.

Maura glanced up and smiled, 'man in his late thirties, collapsed this morning in the lobby of his office. I'm just beginning secondary survey'. Jane nodded once, walking over to where his clothes were laid out.

'Do we have a cause of death?' she asked stiffly.

'Of course not' Maura frowned, looking up from the dead man's leg, which she had been examining. 'Are you okay? You seem off'.

'I'm fine' Jane muttered, 'Cavanaugh just got on my back about being late and I haven't had my coffee yet'.

'You were late?' Maura asked looking up again in surprise, 'Why? You left really early this morning. I hadn't even had breakfast yet'.

Jane mentally kicked herself. 'I just had some er, errands to run. Then I got stuck in traffic'

'But there was hardly any traffic this morning' Maura pointed out, 'I didn't come across any on my way here'.

'We must have gone a different way' Jane said, 'who is this guy anyway?' she added hastily.

Maura gave her a searching look before answering, 'Daniel Wilks' she said, returning to her examination. 'Give me an hour and I should be able to tell you how he died'.

Jane recognised the dismissal, and turned to leave the morgue, mentally kicking herself the whole way.


	3. Chapter 3

By 8pm that evening, it became clear that Jane wasn't going to be able to propose that day; or possibly even that week. After finding traces of cyanide in Daniel Wilks' system, Maura had ruled it a homicide, and none of them had sat down since.

'Okay, so you checked the wife's alibi?' Jane asked Frost as she sank down into her desk chair.

'I left a message with her office but no one was able to tell me whether she was there or not' Frost replied, frowning slightly at his computer.

'And the poison must have been in the last thing he ate or drank, right?' Jane continued, looking over at Maura, who nodded.

'A dose of cyanide is fatal at a ratio to 1.5mg to the kilogram. Wilks was 90kg and he ingested, at my estimation, 140mg of the poison, which was more than enough to kill him' she explained, 'as his stomach was empty, that amount of poison would have killed him in ten minutes at the most'.

Jane rubbed her eyes wearily. 'And we're sure he didn't poison himself?' she asked, allowing herself some false hope.

'Nothing to suggest that he did' Korsak said, 'no history of depression, happily married, good job, no money worries… Plus he collapsed at work, people don't generally go to work to commit suicide' he shrugged.

'I'm calling it a night' Jane finally conceded, 'hopefully we'll have some more to go on in the morning'.

Maura sighed in relief, she was so tired her eyes could barely stay open, and her stomach had been growling with hunger for the last three hours. She beat Jane home and slipped out of her heels with a happy sigh, padding to the kitchen in bare feet she rummaged in the cupboards for something to make for dinner. It took her less than five minutes before she decided it was a pointless endeavour and picked up the phone to order pizza instead.

'Honey I'm home' Jane's voice rang out as she wearily trudged through the front door. 'Please let me get take-out tonight' she said hanging up her jacket. 'And not from that organic-vegan-all natural Chinese this time' she turned to her girlfriend with pleading eyes. 'I don't think my taste buds have forgiven me for that yet'.

'An extra-large, stuffed crust, pepperoni pizza is on its way as we speak' Maura said with a grin.

Jane moaned and dropped her head onto her girlfriends shoulder, wrapping her arms around her waist. 'You, Maura Isles, are the single most amazing person on this planet'.

'Statistically that's unlikely' Maura joked, 'but I think I won't argue with you this time'.

The two collapsed on the sofa lamenting about the excessively long day and devouring the pizza when it arrived. Jane's thoughts however, kept straying back to that little black box which she'd hidden under the seat in her car.

* * *

Despite how exhausted she felt, it took Jane much longer to fall asleep than Maura, who was snoring softly within minutes of her head touching the pillow. Jane had agonised for so long over the perfect way to propose, but now she had the ring and was no closer to deciding how to do it. She had long since accepted that the entire wedding would be done to Maura's standards, fancy ceremony, dozens of guests, a big cake; the whole nine yards. Jane would even wear a dress if it made her happy.

So the proposal had to match the standard. She debated all of the clichés, ring in the champagne, picnic in the park, or dinner at a fancy restaurant… But none of them seemed _right_, not for her and Maura anyway. Jane thought that she should do it somewhere special, but really the only place that was 'special' to Maura was the morgue… That's where she was happiest anyway, and Jane would not be proposing surrounded by dead people, she thought with a slight shudder. Perhaps she would hide the ring somewhere for Maura to find, like in her desk at work or at the bottom of her coffee cup. Smiling slightly to herself; Jane snuggled closer to Maura and closed her eyes, she'd hide the ring somewhere tomorrow.

* * *

For the sixth day in a row, Maura woke up alone. She frowned slightly to herself as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Jane had been acting very strange lately, usually Maura had to practically drag her out of bed in the morning, but she had been up remarkably early every day for the last week. As she went about her morning routine, Maura's thoughts moved on to the case they were solving, the poisoned man. It was a lucky find, realising it had been cyanide that had killed him, it was infamously hard to trace. They had all agreed that it had been administered in liquid form, probably in the coffee he had drank, mere minutes before his death. However, there had been no coffee with him, and as he carpooled with his wife, there was none to be found in the car either.

She made her way to her own stash of coffee, her favourite part of the morning. To her surprise, Jane was already in the kitchen, swearing under her breath at Maura's latest coffee machine.

'Jane?' Maura asked suspiciously, 'what are you doing?'

Jane, who had evidently not heard her enter, span around suddenly looking immensely guilty. 'Just… Making some coffee' she said with a sense of forced airiness, 'didn't sleep well'.

'I can do it if you like?' Maura offered; she knew from experience that Jane's coffee was usually rather bitter, as she didn't really understand the machine.

'Yeah of course' Jane said, gathering up the things she'd scattered across the counter, 'it's all yours. I couldn't get the damn machine to work anyway'.

As Maura walked over to the cupboard to retrieve the right coffee beans, Jane surreptitiously slid the ring back into her pocket. She'd try again tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

'The warrant to search Wilks' home finally came through' Frost announced triumphantly, striding into the office, 'I've contacted the wife, she's expecting us. You wanna come with me and check it out?' he asked, looking from Jane to Korsak.

Jane stood and stretched, 'I'll come, I've been staring at his bank records for two hours and I've gotten nowhere'.

After ten minutes of knocking at the Wilks' front door, the partners realized there was only one thing for it.

'Break it down' Jane said with a grimace, if there was nothing to be found here, they would be in serious trouble, she thought to herself, as the hinges splintered under Frost's powerful kick.

They separated as they tiptoed through the house, sweeping each immaculate room for anything suspicious.

'Jane' Frost called from the kitchen, his voice sounding strangely hollow, 'I think I know why Mrs Wilks didn't answer the door'.

Jane entered the kitchen to find a thoroughly nauseated detective, standing as far away from the late Mrs Wilks body as he could manage.

* * *

'Cyanide poisoning, same as her husband' Maura announced to the detectives that were gathered in the crime lab later that evening. 'And the only thing in her stomach was coffee, same as her husband'.

'And she hadn't left the house so the coffee has to be from there' Korsak said, glancing around the lab, 'have you tested that?'

'Suzie is doing it now' Maura answered, stripping off her latex gloves, 'but she won't have the results until the morning, we're understaffed'.

'So we have to go and do the notification while we wait' Jane sighed into her hands, 'Yesterday we had to tell the son his Dad was dead, and today his Mom'.

'We haven't checked to see if the kid has an alibi yet for his Mom's murder' Frost shrugged, 'He might have done it'.

'But he has an alibi for his father's' Jane pointed out, 'he wasn't even in the city'.

'I don't see any other suspects jumping out at us, do you?' Korsak muttered, 'I say we bring the kid in, do the notification here'.

Jane nodded slowly, 'Okay, you go pick him up'.

* * *

'I'm so sorry to tell you, that this morning your mother was also found dead' Jane said gently to the mousy looking boy across the table, 'we believe she was killed by the same poison as your father'.

The boy kept his eyes fixed on the table, showing no indication that he had even heard the detective.

'Bradley, where were you the day leading up to your father's death?' Korask asked the boy.

'At… At my dorm in Worcester' Bradley finally stammered, 'I have finals, so I went back on Sunday to study'.

'Were your parents having any problems that you knew of? Maybe with a neighbour or any money troubles?' Jane continued gently. Bradley shook his head sharply.

'Everyone loved my Mom' he said quietly, still looking down at the table, 'she went to church, volunteered at soup kitchens, donated to charity…' he trailed off.

Korsak and Jane exchanged a significant look, 'What about your father?'.

Bradley's demeanor visibly changed, his eyebrows knitting together as his shoulders drooped. 'He didn't bother with that sort of thing. Most people preferred my Mom'.

'Including you?' Korsak prompted.

Bradley nodded silently.

'We're sorry for your loss Mr Wilks, please don't leave town, we will be in touch'.

* * *

'The cyanide was in the bag of coffee' Maura declared as she entered in the detective's office several hours later, 'The coffee was completely saturated with it, a single pot of coffee could have killed Mr Wilks 8.4 times over'.

'So he drank the coffee at home, then ten minutes later dropped dead outside his work' Jane said slowly, standing to look at the crime scene photos, not noticing Maura trying to catch her eye.

'Then his mourning wife makes a cup of coffee with the same beans the next day and it kills her too' Korsak summarized, 'the question is, which of them was the actual target?'

Jane's eyes scanned the pictures in front of her, before Maura cleared her throat from the back of the room.

'If you don't need anything else tonight, I'm going to head home' she said, turning to leave 'Jane?'.

'Wha-? Oh no I'm going to stay for a bit longer' Jane replied, turning to face her Maura, 'I've got a hunch I want to look at'.

'Okay' Maura said quietly. But Jane was focused on work, and didn't even notice the hurt in her girlfriend's eyes as she slipped out of the room.

* * *

*SMACK*

Jane jerked awake as the heavy file was dropped in front of her face.

'Good morning' Frost said with a raised eyebrow, 'I see your hunch is working out well'

Jane made a rude gesture and yawned, rubbing her face to try and get rid of the crease marks caused by sleeping on a pile of paper.

'What's this?' she said groggily, waving a hand over the offending file that had woken her.

'Bank statements. Up until six months ago, Dan Wilks was paying for his son's tuition; then he stopped.'

'Ran out of money?' Jane asked, stretching.

Frost shook his head, 'they had plenty, and we found voicemails from the son begging his father not to cut him off'

Jane cocked an eyebrow, 'that sounds like motive'.


	5. Chapter 5

Maura couldn't even summon the energy to be surprised when she woke up alone. Jane hadn't come home, and really, Maura thought in hindsight, she hadn't expected her to.

She passed over her bag of coffee, reaching instead for a jar of instant. She was spooning some into a mug when the back door opened.

'Morning sweetie' Angela smiled, reaching the counter.

'Morning' Maura replied, plastering on a smile.

'Instant?' Angela remarked, picking up the coffee jar, 'You own six coffee machines and you go for instant?'

Maura shrugged 'I've got two bodies in the morgue that wouldn't be there if they'd picked instant'

'You're cheerful this morning' Angela muttered, spooning out some of the instant herself 'Where's Jane?'.

Maura immediately busied herself with the kettle, turning her face away from Angela's inquisitive look, 'Work' she replied shortly, feigning innocence when Angela's eyes narrowed in suspicion. 'Tough case'.

'Did she come home at all last night?'

'No' Maura said, stuffing the coffee back into the cabinet, 'You know how she gets'.

'You usually stay with her' Angela pointed out, 'You always stay to help when she works all night'.

'She didn't need me' Maura replied shortly, turning to go upstairs, 'I need to get ready for work'.

She left the room before Angela even had a chance to open her mouth, and was left standing alone in the kitchen, wondering what on earth was going to happen now.

* * *

'Bradley, you didn't tell us your parents had cut you off' Jane smiled sweetly, 'did you not think it was important to tell us that they weren't supporting you anymore?'

'My Dad' Bradley said quietly

'Excuse me?'

'My Dad was the one who cut me off' Bradley remarked, not looking up from his hands, 'Mom wanted to keep paying my tuition'.

Jane and Korsak shared a significant look, 'and that made you mad?' Korsak said, 'she didn't stand up to him?'

Bradley said nothing.

'I would be mad, personally' Jane said gently, 'you're an only child, why couldn't they support you?'

'Dad wanted to retire' Bradley said, finally looking up to stare at them insolently, 'wanted to take early retirement and move to the Bahamas, leave me behind to fend for myself'.

'And your Mom?' Jane prompted, 'what did she want?'.

'She wanted to stay in Boston, she told him they couldn't just leave me' he whispered, his eyes shining with tears and his jaw clenched with fury, 'but Dad always got what he wanted'.

'Now I want to know why they're both dead' Korsak said bluntly, 'who would want to hurt your Mom?'

Bradley stared back down at the table, his hands clenched tightly together, shoulders shaking, 'no one. Everyone loved her. She doesn't even _drink_ coffee'.

He didn't realize what he had said. Jane grinned broadly before leaning forward; 'Now who said anything about coffee?'

* * *

'We got him' Frost told Maura and she strode into the squad room, 'the son poisoned the coffee because only the Dad drank it, he thought with him dead his Mother would keep supporting him through college'.

Maura smiled at him, 'good, is Jane taking the confession?'

'She's already done it, she finished a few hours ago, said she was going to go home to get some sleep' Frost said, glancing around the almost empty office, 'You should probably get home too'.

Maura nodded, and turned away, missing the somewhat mischievous glint in Frost's eye.

As soon as Maura left the squad room Frost snatched up his phone, 'she's on her way' he tapped out quickly, before grabbing his coat and dashing out of the door.

* * *

'Oh thank God you're home' Jane's voice rang out as soon as Maura stepped in the front door. 'I swear this machine is going to be the death of me'

There was the sound of the milk steamer followed by Jane's yelps and much swearing.

'Are you ok?' Maura rushed into the kitchen, eyeing her girlfriend in alarm. Jane shook her wounded hand and flopped down into one of the seats at the kitchen counter.

'Can you make it?' Jane asked, her eyes pleading.

With a small smile Maura reached for the bag of coffee, 'You know it's really not that difficult you just have to….'

She trailed off as she stared down into the bag of coffee beans, Jane barely concealing her grin. Maura fished the ring out and gaped open mouthed at her girlfriend, who had slid from the stool and was kneeling in front of her.

'Maura Isles, you know I love you more than anything else in the world, even more than coffee' she said, grinning, 'Will you marry me?'

Maura didn't trust herself to speak, she mouthed wordlessly as Jane stared at her incredulously, 'It's a yes or no question Maura, I've never seen you stumped like thi-' the end of her sentence was cut off as Maura flung herself into Jane's arms, kissing her soundly.

'Is this a yes?' Jane chuckled in-between kisses, 'this feels like a yes'.

Maura pulled away just enough to look into her eyes, 'it's a yes, Jane, it's always been a yes'.

The ring was slid into place and Maura tried to blink away the tears enough to see it properly, a perfect, classic diamond ring. No flash, no extras, just simple.

She smiled up at her fiancé, before an almighty CRASH sounded from behind them.

'CONGRATULATIONS' several voices screamed, and Maura had time to see Jane roll her eyes before what looked like the entire police department, the whole Rizzoli family and two bemused looking delivery drivers spilled in the front and back doors, many of them holding balloons and banners.

In all the chaos, Jane decided to turn a blind eye to all the members of the BPD silently handing each other money, but she couldn't bring herself to stay silent when she saw Frankie handing Angela a crisp $20 bill.

'YOU BET AGAINST ME?!' She roared, vaulting the couch to tackle her brother.


End file.
